Habsade’s laugh

EDITORIAL

In a luncheon in honor of Ahmad Abdi Habsade and other Sool leaders, Mr Habsade said, “I have laughed in the five days I spent in Hargeisa more than I did all the time I was in Garowe (Waxaa run ah 5tii Casho ee aan iminka Hargeysa joogey intaan qoslay inaanan Garoowe ka qoslin).” On the face of it, Habsade’s comment may seem like a simple expression of courtesy. However, when looked at more closely, that comment contains a big chunk of the rationale offered by those who believe that Sool is part of Somaliland. But how does Habsade’s laughter reflects the connection between Sool and Somaliland, one might ask?

Habsade himself explains it this way: “it isn’t about being hostile to anybody, it’s about who you know (Taasi waxay ku tusaysaa, maaha xumaan ee waxa weeye yaad taqaannaa).” To make the meaning of his words more clear, Habsade pointed to Hasan Abdi Khayre (the former minister of postal services) and said every time he sees him, he is reminded of their childhood days and the fun they had growing up together. In other words, Habsade laughed in a few days in Hargeisa more than he did in all the years he was in Garowe because, in Hargeisa, he was among people he had known since his childhood and youth, therefore he was more comfortable and could exchange jokes more frequently and freely. This is the cultural argument for why Somaliland and Sool are inextricably linked. Implicit in it is that although the people of Sool and Garowe share clan identification, they do not have the strong cultural connection that exists between Sool and the rest of Somaliland, thus the paucity of Habsade’s laughter in Garowe. An oft-repeated anecdote that captures this cultural gap between the people of Sool and Garowe is a conversation between a man from Sool and Adde Muse. The Sool native does not like something Adde Muse said, so he starts swearing by saying “kufurtu billahi”, a common expression in Somaliland. Adde Muse answers by saying, “Yaakhi kunfur kama hadlaayo” which showed he missed the point.

Antonio Gramsci (about whom, during his trial, Mussolini’s Fascist prosecutor said: “We must stop this brain working for twenty years?) recognized the crucial role of culture in human affairs. He parted with the traditional Marxist view of culture as a superstructure determined by the economic base and, instead, posited a dialectical view of culture that emphasized human agency. Likewise, Habsade, Qaybe and other Sool leaders have rejected the logic of clan determinism which says that because of their clan connection to their fellow Harti in Majeertenya, they have to be politically part of Majeerteenya. Sool’s political leaders want to make their own decisions and to have the freedom to choose who they want to associate with politically. They have exercised that principle of choice and have chosen to be part of Somaliland, the land of their childhood memories, the land where they can give free rein to their sense of humor. As Habsade put it: “welcome to Hargeysa.”

Source: Somaliland Times

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